Peterson was a great runner, has done it over a long period of time. No doubt.
But what you are failing to see, and its a trap you have fallen into over and over, you refuse to give credit to anyone who falls out side of your narrowly defined definition of what elite it. As I said before You keep moving the goal posts in order to satisfy your argument. There is nothing anyone can say that you cant counter with well they arent elite enough.
Running backs do more than run with the ball. If Rice puts up comparable yards to Peterson, whether the ball is handed off to him or thrown to him, he is still gaining those yards. It puts his play on par with the one guy you described as "elite".
Your views of stats are narrow minded, and basically show a one dimension pattern of thinking. You lay out criteria that is impossible to meet because you never define it in order to "prove" a point. Thats not an argument, thats a three year old yelling "Im taking my ball away cuz you're a meanie!" Based on your own words there has been only 1 elite running back in the league in the '10's, Adrian Peterson. How can anyone populate a list of "elite" running backs that have contributed to winning a Super Bowl when there has been only one "elite" back in your designated time period?
So whats the point of asking the question/making the point if the answer is a foregone conclusion?
But, in the end you are dead wrong. You wouldn't know an elite back unless someone on ESPN said so... Adrian Peterson is the only elite back in the 2010's is utterly laughable...
Heres one for you: Sony Michel is an elite Running Back. Julian Edelman is an Elite Receiver.
You don't like it? Don't think he's an elite back? Tough, you're wrong. And the reason why your wrong is Stats Lie. You took a look and saw 931 yards in 2018... I look and see 981 yards in 13 games, another 350 yards and 6 tds in the post season AND more importantly 38:20, 43:59, & 33:10.
In case you don't understand - that's NE's time of possession in the three post season games they played this year. That is not possible with out the production of Sony Michel. The Patriots won because of him. That is what makes him elite. Not some stat line on a piece of paper.
Roster Building is much more complex than saying we have to do this we cant do that. Each piece has to balance out somewhere else. The biggest fault of the Cowboys roster is not them willing to commit 12 or 15 million to Zewok ... The cap is so high right now, its meaningless.The cap and the burden of signing one or two players to large contracts can be ameliorated over time and restructures. 99% of all those large deals are just for show. Most players never see the back half of the deals. The biggest problem is the coaches you all have kept around. They have done more to waste the talent on your roster than any few million dollars here or there ever will.
TLDR: your whole argument is bs.
> Running backs do more than run with the ball. If Rice puts up comparable yards to Peterson, whether the ball is handed off to him or thrown to him, he is still gaining those yards. It puts his play on par with the one guy you described as "elite".
This is just completely wrong. Peterson's 2012 season is going to be far more remembered than what Ray Rice did in 2009 and 2011. Let's take a look at all-purpose yards from those years
2010
Jamal Charles - 1,900
Arian Foster - 2,221
2011
Maurice Jones Drew - 1,964
Arian Foster - 1,841
2012
Adrian Peterson - 2,200+
Doug Martin - 1,900 +
Marshawn Lynch - 1,700+
Do you see where we are going with this? The "2,000" all-purpose yards, and I'm even excluding other RBs who had impact on special teams that put them way over 2,000, isn't as special as RBs who rush for over 2,000 yards? Stop comparing it. One is far more rare than the other. Also, "receiving" for an RB rarely, if ever, tells the entire story - take Zeke for instance, he had 77 receptions but wasn't a dynamic receiving threat. Moving on.
> Your views of stats are narrow minded, and basically show a one dimension pattern of thinking. You lay out criteria that is impossible to meet
because you never define it in order to "prove" a point.
Nothing about my criteria is "impossible" to meet - do you know what "impossible" means? I stated the one true elite RB of this decade was Adrian Peterson. So, obviously, it's not "impossible". Understand the words you use when you respond to me.
> But, in the end you are dead wrong. You wouldn't know an elite back unless someone on ESPN said so... Adrian Peterson is the only elite back in the 2010's is utterly laughable...
Now you're just getting big mad. Simply stating something is "wrong" is not an argument. And now you acknowledge I have set a standard of what an elite RB looks like - so, nothing was "impossible". My entire point has been that the RB position is so vastly unspectacular compared to other positions, that "elite" doesn't come around often in the modern NFL because the difference between good and great is minimal. Understand my argument. Moving on....
> Heres one for you: Sony Michel is an elite Running Back. Julian Edelman is an Elite Receiver.
Neither are elite. Lamar Miller had 900+ yards rushing and 5 TDs and even more receiving yards, is Lamar Miller "elite" now? You're lowering the bar to what "elite" is and you're allowing in a whole lot of average, bud.
I won't entertain the rest. LOL Edelman "elite".